ICG acquires 15% of newly created Creditex Group

Pennsylvania-based Internet Capital Group (ICG) has taken a 15% stake in Creditex Group, just days after it was formed from London-based interdealer broker CreditTrade and New York-based credit derivatives trading platform Creditex.

ICG announced the merger had been completed before Creditex Group, which has offices in New York, New Jersey, London and Singapore, had even released public confirmation of the deal. It said it used the cash proceeds of shares it previously held in CreditTrade as well as $9 million in cash to fund the holding, and has now appointed managing director Doug Alexander to the board of the combined firm.

The merged Creditex Group expects to execute credit derivatives trades worth over $2 trillion and produce over $100 million in revenue by the end of this year. All the firm’s electronic trading and price dissemination operations will be transferred to Creditex’s electronic platform. ICG said the firm would have market-leading positions in European and North American indexes, structured products, single names and emerging markets.